Latest News

Steve Tilley, QMI Agency

Home entertainment has come a long way since the days of rabbit ears and Super-8. So far, in fact, that a lot of younger folks probably don’t even know what rabbit ears and Super-8 are.

(For the curious, rabbit ears were a common delicacy in TV dinners of the 1950s, often consumed while watching the crime-fighting drama Super-8, starring a young Lorne Greene.)

Entertainment and technology are inextricably intertwined, as the recently wrapped Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has once again shown us. From slaying dragons in virtual reality to ultra high-definition porn that will show every bump and wrinkle, here are seven entertainment tech trends that will make waves in 2014.

Sharper screens

This will be the year that ultra high-definition television gains traction, offering four times the resolution of our soon-to-be-obsolete HD TVs. Prices on Ultra HD TVs – also sometimes referred to as 4K TVs – will drop dramatically throughout 2014, just as Ultra HD content finally starts to trickle out. Streaming service Netflix is getting an early jump on Ultra HD, with Season 2 of House of Cards set to be the first series widely available in the newer, sharper format.

While Ultra HD TV will start popping up all over the place in 2014, OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TVs will continue to take baby steps, appealing mostly to moneyed folks who are after the latest bleeding-edge picture quality. In particular, several TV makers will begin offering curved screens (both of the OLED and the regular LED variety), promising viewers a more cinematic experience.

Curved screens could be the next big thing, or they could be a silly fad that goes the way of 3D TV. Perhaps, with that in mind, electronics giants Samsung and LG are experimenting with flexible TV screens that can go from curved to flat at the touch of a button. Sadly, we’re still waiting for the button that can make a stomach go from curved to flat.

Virtual reality comes home

Although it’s been garnering buzz for a couple of years now, one of the biggest stars of the recent Vegas gadget show was the latest version of the Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset designed to let video game players completely immerse themselves in digital worlds. Instead of playing a game on a computer monitor – the device will initially be available only for PCs – players don the headset and get a view of the action that covers nearly their entire field of vision.

It also responds to head movements, so when a player turns his noggin’ to the left to look at the dragon about to roast him in a blast of fire, the in-game perspective shifts to follow his gaze in a fluid, natural motion. The tech is super-slick, and has recently been enhanced with some new features. Fingers crossed for this to see its long-awaited retail release in 2014.

More cords cut

In what seems like a case of “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,” Rogers is rumoured to be rolling out a Netflix-style digital streaming service this year that will offer access to movies and TV shows for a fixed monthly price. It’s a move aimed at the ever-growing population of cord-cutters: people who have ditched traditional cable TV packages in favour of streaming services like Netflix and iTunes, as well video-on-demand and DVDs/Blu-rays. And it’s likely Rogers won’t be the only ones launching a Netflix competitor this year. Stay tuned.

(Basically, all the intense number-crunching that goes into rendering video game graphics will happen on remote computers, with the resulting video streamed back to the player in real-time.)

So while PlayStation Now will first be available on Sony’s game consoles, it will soon be built into some models of Sony TV sets, meaning you could play The Last of Us with nothing more than a controller and a screen. We need to see this tech in practice before we’re convinced it will work.

Cinema comforts

While there’s still lots of hype over 3D IMAX, UltraAVX and Dolby Atmos surround-sound systems with 64 speakers, Cineplex is busy converting more of its auditoriums to so-called VIP cinemas, which offer food and beverage service (including beer and wine) in smaller, cozier theatres.

This lower-tech approach could actually lure more filmgoers out of their flat-screen-equipped living rooms and back to cinemas, especially since the drinking age restriction and higher admission prices (tickets are $18 to 20 a pop, not including food and bevvies) might weed out filmgoers who tend to spend more time playing with their phones than watching what’s on the screen.

Some cinephiles aren’t interested in monstrous flat-screen TVs, and instead are opting for a big blank wall and a high-tech projector to meet their home theatre needs. While manufacturers continue to make improvements to the picture quality and brightness of these devices, projectors really only suit homes where it’s convenient to stick one in the middle of a room, or mount it on a wall or ceiling – not always conducive to good feng shui.

Sony has unveiled a new projector that can sit right up against the wall it’s beaming images into, with an adjustable screen size that can go all the way up to a jaw-dropping 147 inches. (It comes with built-in speakers, too.) The only downsides are the thing is the size of a very wide credenza, and it will come with a $40,000 US price tag when it’s released this summer. The future may be here, but it sure isn’t cheap.